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Talk:ADAM Explained
When did Tenenbaum figure this out - that she was developing a poison. Did it take (more than a little) time to show up with normal usage (the levels consumer goods would have been used) You would think that she would have stopped earlier its development if the damage and insanity manifested itself early on. This is not quite the same thing as drinking and smoking. Testxyz (talk) 17:42, December 7, 2013 (UTC) Inconsistent There's a lot of inconsistencies about how addictive ADAM is. Some pages claim it's just like any other drug, minus the genetic rewriting capabilities, but some pages say it's immediately destructive. Jack sure doesn't experience any adverse effects. Nor do any of the other protagonists. So which is it? 20:57, February 6, 2015 (UTC) :All indications list ADAM as increasingly addictive like heroin, cocaine, or other dangerous drugs. Which pages list it as immediately addictive? Can you link them here? We can take corrective steps with more details. :Unownshipper (talk) 04:04, February 7, 2015 (UTC) :The main ADAM page does to some extent. Mostly it's the audio diaries, like [ADAM Sickness. 05:09, February 7, 2015 (UTC) :::I think ADAM Explained explaines it best. ADAM created benign tumors that cause mental and physical alterations in a person that used it. One dose of a Plasmid or Tonic means you have ADAM in your body and sooner or later you WILL get ADAM Sickness. (The start of the adiction) It's just a matter of time. But the use of more ADAM can keep the side effects at bay or at least controlable. Of course sooner or later you will be nearly impossibale to get enough ADAM to contol things. Now we don't know how much of a physical and metal dependence on ADAM there is. We hear at least one splicer early in the game complain they had not seen any ADAM for weeks. :::A theory as to why Jack does not have problems is that since he heavily altered/modified so he would grow much more quickly they made him immune to ADAM sickness. After all what's the use of haveing grow so quickly and have him become a walking tumor in a couple of months? sm Solarmech (talk) 14:02, February 7, 2015 (UTC) ::::I wonder if ADAM sickness is in fact some kind of failed transplant, or one too much effective. ADAM is basically raw DNA material, and Plasmids/Tonics or whatever uses ADAM are artificially modified and controlled DNA strains estranged from the user's own DNA (the original pitch for BioShock had it related to sea life, and would ultimately make the users some kind of barnacle/fish/crustacean hybrid monster ). As long as ADAM isn't completely expunged from the body, it will try to take over the user's genetic code and rewrite it completely into what it is engineered from (like Crawlers for example, but also Frosties and the cut Jockeys), unless fresh raw ADAM is introduced to keep the whole transformation from occurring (Little Sisters have their own ADAM factory inside their stomach, and they don't look like monsters, eyes and voice apart). Even Big Daddies need ADAM to heal, and Alpha Series were slowly turning into monsters due to their lack of Little Sisters and so ADAM source (some concept arts show how far those transformations could have gone). Also Tenenbaum's cure would probably have the effects of inverting the progression of the spliced DNA in the body and force the native cells into replacing the modified ones. Pauolo (talk) 14:30, February 7, 2015 (UTC) ::::: Actually since "ADAM Remembers" I suspect it more like forcing the ADAM to "remember" what the person's original DNA was and making it following that configuration. Basically becoming exact copies of the original cells that will no longer go out of control. sm --Solarmech (talk) 17:40, February 7, 2015 (UTC) ::::: Consider some abused drugs which the User literaly feels pain if they dont get their fix and others if you try to suddenly stop (go 'cold turkey' ) it can often kill. SO that type of 'addiction' - that of being an actual physical dependency (versus psychological) - may be a big aspect for some users of ADAM. ::::: Negative effects could include things like tissue rejection caused when the DNA/RNA changes start failing and the user starts reverting when they dont maintain ADAM intake - amplified when you had massive body changes like combat Plasmids. ::::: It is possible that there were treatments to minimize these sideeffects which went away when Rapture went into chaos (and when more and more people were using it and the quality might be dropping). ::::: 23:05, February 7, 2015 (UTC) ::::::I agree on that, it's more physical than psychological. ::::::Even if it's more a matter of gameplay limitation, there's not a lot of Splicers using actual Plasmids or heavy genetic modifications in each games, which could be related to a reversion of their genetic code, though this still leaves their own DNA deteriorated and unstable. That would mean that after getting away from Rapture, Jack would have been ultimately unable to use any of his acquired genetic modifications, the same way Orrin Oscar Lutwidge is never mentioned using any ADAM powers after his return to the surface. ::::::Surgical aesthetics were possibly a treatment, but then Steinman went mad and locked down the Medical Pavilion for his personal use. Fontaine Futuristics - the main actor in Rapture's genetic research - was shut down and Ryan Industries was too busy making a profit to even think of health treatments for Splicers (Ryan called "careless Splicing" a choice and broadcast a few announcements for good measure). At least Lamb procured post-war psychological treatments, but it turned out to be indoctrination. I think the biggest issue with the war was that Ryan was unprepared, or never imagined the riots would last a year. Pauolo (talk) 00:02, February 8, 2015 (UTC) ::::::Except would Ryan want more disruptive crazy people (if that was now obvious a result)? What good is profit when things are going chaotic/imploding? The careless splicing comment - WHEN was that said ? Before or after the civil war mess had many more people splicing for their own defense and (sloppy?) combat plasmids became prevelant (and shortages). ::::::ADAM production was also declining (and controlled for 'the civil war) so less to have Splicers activate (multiple) Plasmids by the time we see it BS1. (beside the point that it might make our opponents too strong - imagine several simultaneously just zapping you til you died - less interesting combat if you faced only one at a time). ::::::After we (as jack) pump ourselves full of so much ADAM by the time he got to the surface and had no more ADAM, he might've melted into a puddle. ::::::On the surface without EVE (smoking 10 packs of cigarettes to get one activation?) your Plasmids are pretty useless. :::::: 21:52, February 8, 2015 (UTC) ::::::Actually all he would need to do was drink some coffee, tea or pop. Seems that cafine or some other stimulents cane be used af EVE or cause teh body to produce EVE. Interesting point about people loosing the ability to use their Plasmids after awhile without ADAM. This neatly explains why few enemies in BS1 use Plasmids. sm Solarmech (talk) 13:12, February 9, 2015 (UTC) ::::::I recall usually consuming such things gave you only a little (the tonics that boosted the EVE generation seem a logical product then - tho EVE in Rapture seemed common/not shortaged). Cant really do that in combat (much) so you'd be limited to one EVE tracks worth (you built up ahead of time). The combat plasmid did use significant chunks of your EVE reserves so that would limit you capabilities to a few targets and still be relying on weapons. Funny would be being debilitated MORE by all the huge amount of caffeine/nicotene/sugar you'd have to ingest. ::::::Another possible explanation : the more Plasmids you had the more unstable physically and mentally you could be and thus a lower lifespan (by the time we see in-game). :::::: 23:12, February 9, 2015 (UTC) :::::: Totally agree the more ADAM you start off using the faster your decline will be. Since you used more ADAM that means you have more unstable cells in your body and the faster things go down the tubes. sm --Solarmech (talk) 00:20, February 10, 2015 (UTC) Multiple Plasmids/Tonics might also conflict/compete (internally) and maybe teh consumer grades had features to minimize that (the 'can only have one plasmid active' at once). (Besides earlier plasmids not neccessarily being 'combat' drastic/strong - the 'BIC lighter in BaS vs full Incinerate! and its upgrades). But as the civil war chaos increased and plasmid production got hectic, the production might have gotten more sloppy/streamlined (or unstable if they 'age' and Atlas may have been using a stash for his minions) and extra stability features left out if it limited production efficiency or used up more ADAM. 12:42, February 10, 2015 (UTC) Jacks growth seems to be the product of some process probably using ADAM and other things (who knows what all else the experimental science in Rapture came up with). Plasmids_are_the_Paint ADAM sounds like it stimulates Stem Cells in the body (or reverts cells back to stem cells). It probably is NOT Stem Cells itself - as those are unformed cells but with the host body's own original DNA (and that certainly not to be found in a SeaSlug - even if it (ick) ate human waste). Tonics/Plasmids are made when additional DNA/RNA is added to modify the bodies DNA cellular pattern and the ADAM created stem cells then REform the needed physical changes/additions. Baby Jack possibly didnt likely have any additional DNA/RNA added, but was accelerated with his own DNA (thus no conflicting genetic material to cause various sideeffects when the body reverts from added genetic patterns back to the original DNA). Fontaine could have expended ALOT of ADAM on his project. The acceleration may be a seperate effect - WE get body tissue/structural changes really fast as part of the Tonics/Plasmid/HealingKits, so that component is probably in the ADAM stuff we add to ourselves in the game too. (Steinman's process sounds like local quick healing after he sliced/diced faces, and not some more complex DNA changes. There probably were a whole lot of other medical therapy processes of that type - including a Cancer Cure). SO Tenenbaums ADAM Sickness Cure might be something to get all that garbage DNA/RNA out of a body and then apply ALOT of ADAM to repair all the destruction/disruptions BACK to the persons original DNA (and with some acceleration component to minimize the time half-finished changes exist in the body) 23:23, February 10, 2015 (UTC)